


A Little Cold

by CloudXMK



Series: The Adventures of Porter Cliff and His Adopted Kids [3]
Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Adopted!Higgs Monaghan, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cliff Whump, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Just a cold you guys don't worry, Kid!Higgs Monaghan, Kid!Sam Porter Bridges, Louise isn't too involved in this one but she's still there, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Porter!Cliff, Sickfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-18 16:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21580738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudXMK/pseuds/CloudXMK
Summary: Despite being a battle-harden ex-soldier, Cliff's still human and vulnerable.
Relationships: BB-28 | Louise & Clifford Unger, Higgs Monaghan & Clifford Unger, Sam Porter Bridges & Clifford Unger, Sam Porter Bridges & Higgs Monaghan & Clifford Unger
Series: The Adventures of Porter Cliff and His Adopted Kids [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552654
Comments: 7
Kudos: 85





	A Little Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Just some hurt/comfort and fluff for this small family. They're honestly so cute and adorable and I just love writing fics about this small family! Hope you guys enjoy this fic too!

Cliff coughed long and hard as he curled up on the bed in his Private Room with his head aching as if someone was slamming a sledgehammer into his skull. Feverish and shivering terribly with the chills at the same time, Cliff wraps his arms around himself trying to retain as much warmth as possible.

Trekking through the snowy mountains wasn’t exactly an easy feat and he had spent out in the cold longer than he would have preferred. Thank god he didn't bring the boys on this delivery. Instead, he had told the boys to stay inside the distribution center and explore then. Lou meanwhile had to come to help him track any BT's he may come across. Thankfully, she wasn't too stressed albeit a bit tired so he lets her recuperate in the synchronization incubator when he finally made it back.

She was out like a light the moment he hooked her up to the incubator and he couldn't help but chuckle. And then that's when he started to cough. 

Hours had since passed and he could still feel his head throbbing as the fever raged within him. He still felt horrid as ever if not more even after taking a hot shower and getting dressed in clean clothes, even grabbing a blanket that he could curl up under. The boys were thankfully still out playing and he'd rather not let them get too close to him else they get sick. As he laid there on his side, he wondered if he could just ignore whatever is making him sick. But he decided that would be a terrible idea. If he were to go out and collapse, the boys and Lou wouldn’t be safe.

Deciding then that he should get this looked into, he pulls up the cufflink and reattaches the other cuff onto his wrist, activating it and then proceeds to call up Deadman.

“Ah Cliff, I was just about to call you. Your vitals weren't up to par and I wanted to see if you were alright.” Deadman said.

“Yeah… I’m just feeling like shit right now. I may be coming down with a cold but I was hoping that you could diagnose me of it. Make sure it’s nothing serious.”

“Of course! Let me just use Fragile’s Umbrella to get over there. I’ll be there in a few minutes since I need to bring what I need necessary.”

“It’s fine. Just take your time.” Cliff muttered as he went to lay back down on the bed, pulling the blanket over him in an attempt to keep warm.

He hadn’t realized he had dozed off when he was woken up by Deadman. “Cliff. Sorry, I must have taken a bit too long.” Deadman apologized.

“N-No its fine.” Cliff says, coughing then once more.

“Hmm, you look terrible. Pale, bags under your eyes and sweating. Let me check you over. Could you please remove your shirt?”

Cliff obliges, removing his shirt and tossing it to the side.

Deadman then hooks the stethoscope into his ears before slowly placing the bell onto the chest and listening to his patient’s heart and lungs. “Take deep breaths please.”

Cliff did so. After a few heartbeats in between, Deadman then checks his temperature and finishes up the rest of the checkup. “Well, it’s clear that you have a cold and running a fever. All you need to do is drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest. No delivering cargo at all!” The man said sternly.

Cliff nods, relieved that at least he didn’t catch anything serious or lethal.

“Not planning on it. I just wanted to make sure that it’s not something that could kill me.” The silver-haired man muttered as he puts on his shirt once more.

“I’ll give you some medicine to help you recover faster. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Get some sleep, Cliff. You really look you do need it.” Deadman said and he then disappeared in a flash as he was transported back to Capital Knot City.

With that said, Deadman made his departure and Cliff then fell onto his bed, sighing. He still felt terribly awful but at least he wasn’t dying. A cold isn't exactly the worst he had ever been through. Just... annoying. 

He was about to doze off once more when the door to his Private Room opened and he heard the rapid footsteps that came thudding in. “Pops! Look what we got.” Higgs exclaimed holding several cans of energy drinks in his arms with Sam also holding a large amount too with a deadpan expression on his face.

Cliff was about to tell them that they couldn't drink those when he started to have a coughing fit, shocking the two boys. 

“Dad? Are you okay?” Sam asks worried and getting a bit scared when he noticed then how pale and sick his father looked.

Cliff nods, his coughing fit dying down, and shoots his son a reassuring smile. “Just a cold, Sam. I’ll be fine.”

Now Higgs was getting concerned too. “You sure, old man?” Of course Higgs tried to sound brave but after what had happened with the terrorists and how close he and Sam were to losing Cliff... The fear started to well up inside both boys and Cliff noticed how they were slightly trembling.

“I’m fine, you two. Come here.”

The boys quickly dumped the cans on the table and clambered onto the bed, curling up and pressing against Cliff’s side. Cliff didn’t want them to get too close as he was afraid that he could spread the cold onto the boys but he knew when the boys were like this, there was no stopping them from curling up close to his side.

Not since his ‘death’ from a punctured lung.

Looking over his shoulder, he checks on Lou one more time to see if she was sleeping. Satisfied that Lou was still asleep, Cliff then turns his attention back onto the boys. Grabbing the blanket, he drapes it over himself and the boys, letting Higgs and Sam burrow closer against him, both of them grasping onto their father’s clothes so tight that Cliff knew it would wrinkle his shirt but he didn’t care.

“It’s okay. I’m going to be fine, you two.” Cliff murmurs.

“Are you sure?” Sam whimpered.

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“You better not lie to us, Pops.” Higgs muttered, his voice shaky with fear and worry. 

Cliff strokes the top of Higgs’s head and then Sam’s. “I’m not. I called Deadman and he told me its just a cold. He’s just getting some medicine for me right now.”

“Get some sleep, you two. It’s been a long day.” Cliff mutters, trying to stop himself from coughing so as not to spread his cold on the kids.

He felt Higgs and Sam nod against his shirt and slowly, they fell asleep. Once Cliff was sure they were asleep, he too then dozed off. When Deadman came back, he couldn’t help but chuckle seeing the dogpile on the bed.

Not wanting to disturb the porter, his sons and Lou, Deadman quickly but quietly sets the medicine on the table and then leaves letting the small family get some rest.


End file.
